Complementary and Alternative Therapies Research
Psychologists and other mental health practitioners frequently work with patients whose symptoms only partially respond to psychotherapy. Even when their patients are satisfied with improvements, the therapist wishes to see their recovery complete. Other patients may have been diagnosed with a medical illness and need help coping with both the illness and its treatment. In these and other cases, the therapist may wish to consider interventions from what are collectively known as complementary and alternative therapies.This book describes the most common complementary and alternative therapies that have empirical support from peer-reviewed journals and provides guidance on which therapies have been most useful for which psychological and medical issues. In chapters that cover massage and acupressure, acupuncture, tai chi, yoga and pilates, exercise, music and aroma therapy, hypnosis, biofeedback, progressive relaxation, meditation, and the use of imagery, the author documents the positive emotional, behavioral, physiological, and biochemical effects of these therapies as well as proposed mechanisms of change. Additional information is provided on two major psychotherapies that have been shown to successfully integrate several of complementary therapies into traditional frameworks. Although focused primarily on adults, the book offers data and guidance on pediatric populations as well.Clear information on the training and credentials of complementary and alternative therapy practitioners and contact information on professional associations is provided, so that psychotherapists can have confidence in making referrals to and then working with these other practitioners in the context of psychotherapy. The information presented throughout is easily accessible to graduate students and to novice and seasoned clinicians and researchers.
Integrative Medicine by
Stay on the cutting edge of today's most promising trends in complementary and alternative medical treatments with Dr. David Rakel's Integrative Medicine, 4th Edition. Written by physicians who are experts in both traditional and integrative medicine, this highly regarded, evidence-based reference covers therapies such as botanicals, supplements, mind-body, lifestyle choices, nutrition, exercise, spirituality, and more. Integrative Medicine, 4th Edition uses a clinical, disease-oriented approach, offering practical guidance for reducing costs and improving patient care. Helps you safely and effectively incorporate complementary and alternative therapies into your everyday practice, while focusing on prevention and wellness for a better quality of life. Uses the reliable SORT method (Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy) to provide evidence-based ratings, grading both the evidence and the relative potential harm. Explains how to make the best use of integrative medicine and the mechanisms by which these therapeutic modalities work, keeping you at the forefront of the trend toward integrative health care. Expert ConsultT eBook version included with purchase. This enhanced eBook experience allows you to search all of the text, figures, videos, and references from the book on a variety of devices. Includes 13 brand-new chapters, covering hot topics such as personalized medicine, MTHFR mutation, food allergy and intolerance, the gut-immune influence on systemic inflammation and disease, chelation therapy, testosterone deficiency, adrenal fatigue, and much more. Features more than 100 significantly revised chapters and hundreds of new figures and tables throughout. Provides online access to new multiple-choice questions for every chapter, perfect for board exam review - plus downloadable Patient Education Guides and video collections.
Healing Traditions by
The popularity and practice of alternative medicine continues to expand at astonishing rates. In Healing Traditions, Bonnie Blair O'Connor considers the conflicts that arise between the values and assumptions of Western, scientific medicine and those of unconventional health systems. Providing in-depth examples of the importance and benefits of alternative health practices--including the extraordinarily extensive and sophisticated HIV/AIDS alternative therapies movement--O'Connor identifies ways to integrate alternative strategies with orthodox medical treatments in order to ensure the best possible care for patients. In spite of the long-standing prediction that, as science and medicine progressed--and education became more generally available--unconventional systems would die out, they have persisted with undiminished vitality. They have, in fact, experienced a reinvigoration and expansion during the last fifteen to twenty years. In the United States, this renewal is fueled by people representing a wide cross-section of American society, and most of them also use conventional medicine. This eclecticism can result in conflicts between the values and assumptions of Western, scientific medicine and those of unconventional health systems. O'Connor demonstrates the importance of understanding how various belief systems interact and how this interaction affects health care. She argues that through neutral observation and thorough description of health belief systems it is possible to gain an understanding of those systems, to identify likely points of conflict among systems--especially conflicts that may occur in conventional care settings--and to intervene in ways that ensure the best possible care for patients.
Alternative Medicine : A Critical Assessment of 150 Modalities by
Alternative medicine (AM) is hugely popular; about 40% of the US general population have used at least one type of alternative treatment in the past year, and in Germany this figure is around 70%. The money spent on AM is considerable: the global market is expected to reach nearly US $ 200 billion by 2025, with most of these funds coming directly out of consumers' pockets. The reasons for this popularity are complex, but misinformation is certainly a prominent factor. The media seem to have an insatiable appetite for the subject and often report uncritically on it. Misinformation about AM on the Internet (currently about 50 million websites are focused on AM) is much more the rule than the exception. Consumers are thus being bombarded with misinformation on AM, and they are ill-protected from such misinformation and therefore prone to making wrong, unwise or dangerous therapeutic decisions, endangering their health and wasting their money. This book is a reference text aimed at guiding consumers through the maze of AM. The concept of the book is straightforward. It has two main parts. The first, short section provides essential background on AM, explaining in simple terms what is (and what is not) good, reliable evidence, and addressing other relevant issues like, for instance, the placebo response, informed consent, integrative medicine, et cetera The second and main part consists of 150 short chapters, topically grouped and each dedicated to one single alternative therapeutic or diagnostic method. In each of them, seven critical points are raised. These points relate to issues that are important for consumers' decisions whether it is worth trying the method in question. Restricting the discussion to just seven points means that issues must be prioritized to those themes which are most relevant in the context of each given modality.
